Mavericks Open 2009-10 Men’s Basketball Season With Fordham Exhibition

November 5, 2009

Mavericks Open 2009-10 Men’s Basketball Season With Fordham Exhibition 

Mercy College men’s basketball team opens with scrimmage at Division I school.

• 2009-10 Schedule (PDF)

DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – Under the first-year head coach Sean O’Connor, the Mercy College men’s basketball team will open their 2009-10 season on the road with a scrimmage against Division I Fordham University, from the A-10 Conference on Thursday, Nov. 5 at the Rose Hill Campus in Bronx, N.Y. The exhibition game will be the first of two scrimmages against Division I opponents as they will travel to Manhattan on Tuesday, Nov. 10 to play the Jaspers of the MAAC, in Riverdale, N.Y.

The Mavericks will open their regular season with a non-conference contest at University of Massachusetts-Lowell on Sunday, Nov. 15. The Riverhawks are picked third in the Northeast-10’s preseason poll. Mercy College will play two other NE-10 schools during season, including at Southern New Hampshire (Dec. 19) and at the College of St. Rose (Dec. 30).

Continuing on the road in late-November, Mercy College will participate in the Shippensburg Tournament on Nov. 20-21, where they will play against East Stroudsburg and host Shippensburg on Friday and Saturday nights. Shippensburg was picked to finish fifth in the preseason PSAC Eastern Division. East Stroudsburg was picked to finish sixth.

The Mavericks start East Coast Conference play in early December with two-straight road games starting with Dowling on Dec. 2, then a trip to C.W. Post on Dec. 5. This will be an aggressive first week of conference competition as the Pioneers were picked to repeat their claim as the ECC’s league champions in the coaches’ preseason poll released on Wednesday. The Pioneers were 30-1 overall, and 18-0 in the league, and defeated Philadelphia, Assumption and Bentley in the NCAA Regional to win the Regional Championship and advance to the Elite Eight. Dowling’s senior guard David Seagers was tabbed Preseason Player of the Year. Dowling was picked to finish third in the conference in 2009-10. The following week, the Mavericks continue to play the top teams in the conference as they open their home season with a midweek ECC game against the preseason No. 2-pick, Bridgeport (Dec. 9). The Purple Knights were 22-9 for the season in 2008-09 and 14-4 in the ECC. Preseason-No. 4 pick Queens College is next on the men’s home docket on Dec. 12. The game against the Knights will be the last game the Mavericks will play on their home court in 2009.

Ed Wilson.

Mercy College will take to the road for a handful of non-conference contests, starting wit their Dec. 19 game at New Hampshire and Dec. 30 at St. Rose. The Mavericks will kick off the new year at the Dominican College Fourth Annual James Clancy Tournament where they will play host Dominican on Jan. 2 and Caldwell on Jan. 3, both of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. Caldwell was picked to finish third in the CACC North Division.

The men will continue on their road and will start the breadth of their ECC competition as they travel to St. Thomas Aquinas on Jan. 6, followed by Molloy on Jan. 9.

Back on their home court in mid-January, the Mavericks will host three-straight, starting with NYIT on Jan. 11 then a rematch against Dowling (Jan. 13) and C.W. Post (Jan. 16). Mercy College plays each of the seven conference teams three times throughout the 2009-10  season. The Mavericks will close out their regular season at home on Feb. 27 with a contest against NYIT at Mercy College Gymnasium.

The Mavericks’ goal is to end their season in the postseason starting with the East Coast Conference tournament from March 3-7 and extending into the 53rd annual NCAA Division II Regionals starting on March 14.

The men return six veterans from 2008-09, including junior Ed Wilson (Bronx, N.Y.), who played in all 27 games for the Mavericks. Wilson shot 130-for-280 from the floor for a .464 shooting percentage, pulling down 71 rebounds and tallying 64 assists. Wilson went 45-for-60 from the free throw line.

The Mercy College men’s and women’s basketball teams will play the majority of their conference schedules as double-headers. The men’s games start times are dependent on when the women end.